The Blue Shield, Prosecutors, & Media Coverage

I was watching the news last night and one of the stories really pissed me off for several reasons. Let me be clear: I recognize that LEOs have stressful jobs and respect the fact most LEOs handle their jobs well.

What I absolutely don't respect is how "The Blue Sheild" attempts to protect LEOs even when the evidence of wrongdoing inrefutable. I also get the impression that prosecutors hold back when trying LEOs.

The news report basically said this: Conroe police sergeant Jason Blackwelder was convicted of manslughter for shooting a shoplifting suspect in the back of the head, and received five years probation. There was a sound bite of the prosecutor saying he thought that justice has been served because Blackwelder would never again be able to work in law enforcement (he sounded sorry for Blackwelder).

What the news report didn't give was the background. Blackwelder, who was off duty at the time, initially lied about how he "struggled" with the suspect, and shot the suspect while in a chokehold. The police investigation supported Blackwelder's story. It was several weeks before the autopsy was released showing that Russell Rios was shot in the back of head, while laying face down on the ground. And there was other evidence that didn't support Blackwelder's story.

To be fair to the media, it was probably the media attention that led to Blackwelder being charged. I have no doubt that the prosecutor and law enforcement officials in Montgomery County would have let this "slide" if it weren't for the initial media attention.

To make this travesty of "justice" even worse, several officials in Montgomery County considered the fact that a LEO was even charged a surprise, and the manslaughter conviction a major victory.

The link only covers part of this story. I hope to post some additional links that will tell more of the story.

Jury convicts suspended Conroe officer in fatal shooting of alleged Wal-Mart shoplifter - Houston Chronicle

 

I agee. As I posted, I respect LOEs and understand (obviously limited as a civilian) what they face. It's the automatic and unyielding "Blue Shield" that upsets me, along with the lack of prosecutorial effort, and half-assed news reports in the media.

We were very involved in HPD's Citizens On Patrol program, and got to know some dedicated LOEs. We also met some LOEs who would "protect" their fellow LOEs regardless of the evidence that they clearly blew it.

Situations where split second decisions have to made are one thing; situations where bad decisions could have and should have been avoided are something else. Determining which is which isn't always easy. We can't rely on the news media to accurately report what happened.

Perhaps Blackwelder did accidently shoot Rios in the back of the head. He certainly lied about it. The initial investigation was certainly not thorough. Without having attended the trial and having access to all of the evidence, I can't say how hard the prosecutor went after Blackwelder. Perhaps the manslaughter charge was appropriate. Perhaps the evidence supported the jury's decision to sentence him to five years probation was justified.

 

Prosecutors have to work with police officers constantly, in practically every case. No surprise that the prosecutor will avoid offending cops.

Because of this conflict of interest, prosecution of police officers who commit crimes ought never be done by the local prosecutor. A special or out-of-town prosecutor should be brought in to handle the case.

Ideally, this should be provided for in statute or court rule, so there is no question about the way things will proceed.

 

I have been named to this thread a couple of times, and I hesitate to weigh in. It is tough to judge another officer's actions, because you were not there. You don't know what was happening split second by split second. One of my fellow troopers, a guy I would trust implicitly, almost shot a young man who was holding a novelty pistol lighter. He was on a traffic stop at night. Another good trooper was backing him. Man and woman in the vehicle. On his second approach, about to give the guy a written warning. The guy had his right hand on his thigh and was smoking a cigarette. When he reached with his right hand to take the warning, trooper A saw he had a small pistol palmed in his hand. something that could hold a couple rounds. He drew his gun and screamed "what the fuck are you doing?, as he stepped back. Trooper B saw trooper A draw and scream, so he drew as well. He was standing at the back of the car, so he had a clear shot at both of their heads through the rear window. The young man immediately dropped the pistol in the car and started yelling "sorry". Trooper B yelled out "what's going on, A?". A finally screamed "gun!". It turns out this jackass had lit his cigarette with a pistol shaped lighter. It even had a laser pointer when you pulled the trigger. He had been nervously playing with it and didn't think about it being pointed in the direction of a police officer. I saw the lighter that evening and heard the story straight from him several times as people came in and out of the office. Sitting in the office, it was obvious it was a novelty lighter. At first, I was pretty surprised when trooper A said he almost shot him. But then I put myself in that scenario. I imagined a dark interior, a traffic stop. No daylight, just bright flashlights and shadows. All of the sudden a movement, and something gunshaped, black and chrome, being pointed at you. I then realized trooper A would have been perfectly justified shooting him. If that young man hadn't immediately dropped it, he would have been dead. And trooper A would have had to live with killing a guy for being stupid. He would have had to live with that, even though he would have been justified for what he saw at the time. And for reacting at what he saw. Obviously, every encounter was different. But I hesitate to make judgment based on a news article. There is simply not enough information. Now the comment section is horrible. All the people saying good, one less thief. Nobody deserves to die for stealing. But that doesn't mean that in the process of enforcement, a criminal cannot escalate the situation, calling for a higher level of force. Again, I wasn't there, just offering what if scenarios.

In my county, the prosecutors are dicks or babies. The DA tried to make a name for himself by prosecuting a couple troopers. I don't bother looking at how my cases are resolved. I know I have yet to go to trial on over 40 duis. I'm assuming most of them have been dismissed or plea bargained down. If I looked and saw that, I would get depressed. So I don't look, I just keep serving up softballs with good accurate reports and know that I have done my job.

One other thing, it's LEO. Law Enforcement Officer.

 

Most defendants plead guilty. Plea bargains are not necessarily giving away the store, from a prosecution standpoint.

 

FTR, I started off typing LEO. Once the struggle between my the left-handed (natural) part & right-handed (forced/learned) part of my of my brain starts, the typos become numerous.

In the case I mentioned, the media coverage went pretty much as follows (the reports are on the net).

The first reports were short. An off-duty Conroe police officer shot & killed a shoplifting suspect during a struggle. The suspect had the officer in a chokehold and the officer had to use deadly force. The shooting is being investigated.

Once the autopsy report was relased, and the family of the dead man started complaining, the media feeding frenzy began.

As the case moved on, media coverage died down. To my knowledge, there was little coverage re the fact that he was only charged with manslaughter.

The media coverage jumped slightly when he was found guilty. The punishment of five years probation received superficial coverage.

And I have to go for now.